The day has finally arrived, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share pick up day! I've been waiting for today since the week of July 4th when hubs and I decided to join one. Back then August 27 seemed like forever away.
If you're not familiar, when you participate in a CSA, you are investing in a farm of your choice, and your investment helps the farm run. In return, you get shares of the food they harvest! You sign up for a full season, and you get whatever the farm is growing, encouraging you to try veggies that likely aren't at your local supermarket.
We are fortunate that the farm we invested in, Wild Hope Farm, has a pick up location just a few miles from our home. We arrived at the farmers market parked in the backlot - a tiny plot of grass with cars squeezing into spots, all eagerly trying to get to their favorite vendor at the market.
We made our way to the white trailer with the adorable Wild Hope Farm logo. I've read the prep email a few times so I had an idea of what to do. We walked up to the table, and I asked what we had to do. "Well, nothing." This is my speed. I told her how many shares we ordered and she brought them out of the trailer. Aaaannnndd that was pretty much it. There was a swap bin - which I'm overly enamored with for some reason - and I spotted basil. I saw a pesto in my future.
We filled our bags with the veggies and were on our way. It was incredibly simple. So what was in our bounty?
As with most CSAs, I received an email with recipes. This was helpful because I didn't know what a red Kuri squash was. I went through the rest of the afternoon running to four different stores buying my kids' epic list of school supplies. Because school starts in 2 days, the shelves were bare. Ton of fun. When I got back home, I decided to start digging into these veggies for dinner.
I took the email's advice and made the recipe it shared: Roasted Red Kuri Squash Salad. I had most of the ingredients and could sub out the ones I didn't have with something close enough - newfound confidence I am building. I used to pass on a recipe if I didn't have the exact ingredients.
This recipe called for feta I substituted for brie and pumpkin seeds for plain old sliced almonds because that's what I had. I added tomatoes because I wanted to eat them before they went bad.
Here's the end result: roasted red Kuri squash with brie, sliced almonds, and tomatoes over arugula and microgreens. I also made the dressing according to the recipe. It was so flavorful and light!
What is so great about this meal to me, is that we ate foods not in our usual rotation, AND about half of what we ate came from a farm 20 miles away. I only wish I'd had fresh bread to eat along with this!
You might be wondering about the kids and if I served them a squash salad. Yes and no. I reheated rice and beans from earlier in the week. I'm okay with this for a few reasons:
They would likely not love the squash salad
The rice and beans meal was minimally processed
Reheating an extra meal was quick and easy
While the squash salad was not their main entree, they were asked to taste what I made. As in true Goldilocks fashion, Middle daughter loved it, Youngest daughter looked at it crooked, and Oldest thought it was just okay.
You might be wondering what the rest of us thought. To me, it tasted flavorful and fresh, and my body felt light and satisfied.
And as I reflect on dinnertime, it was one of our more peaceful meals. Youngest stayed seated the whole time; everyone waited their turn to speak and share about our eventful day. Not every mealtime is like this, so I tend to bookmark them. They remind me that despite the chaos, we can all sit together and enjoy one another over good food.
Check out the recipe page for simple, unprocessed dinner ideas this week!
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